Remodeled casino to open

Tuesday, July 2, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

Ameristar Casinos Inc. of Las Vegas expects to open its remodeled riverboat casino in St. Charles, Mo., by mid-summer, nearly doubling the size of the operation and more than doubling available dining and entertainment options.

Including $170 million spent by previous owner Station Casinos Inc., the total construction cost of the project will be about $360 million.

The facility will feature an open streetscape under a transluscent skylight and seven dining and entertainment venues that have not yet been named.

The expanded casino floor, at 130,000 square feet, includes 3,300 slot and video poker machines and 95 table games. Ameristar will be fully using the casino's second floor, a section of which was reserved for future growth.

The growth of the St. Louis market is driving the expansion, which makes the riverboat the largest casino to serve the metropolitan St. Louis market, the company said.

"When we acquired the St. Charles property, we made a commitment to bring the premier gaming and entertainment destination to the St. Charles community," said Craig H. Neilsen, Ameristar chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Ameristar Casino St. Charles, which opened in 1994, was the first riverboat casino to open in Missouri.

Stations Casinos -- ending an expansion experiment that resulted in fines and other tangles with Missouri gaming regulators -- sold the St. Charles casino and a Kansas City property to Ameristar in 2000 for $488 million.